Dwarf Chainsword Runners

[dan94]

Hello! I planted some Dwarf Chainsword in my 10 gallon in December of last year. They started off pretty great and I had a few runners in the first month of them being in my tank. In late January I separated one of the runners and planted it in the other side of my tank to hopefully get my carpet started over there. Ever since however, none of the chainsword has sent out any runners that I can see. The dwarf chainsword that is currently in the tank appears healthy, and the biggest of the plants is still growing new leaves. My lighting/fertilizing rituals have not changed at all since December. My light is on 7 hours a day and I dose easy green one pump twice weekly to keep around 10-20ppm of Nitrate. Has anyone else experienced this, or am I not being patient enough? I am pretty new to carpeting plants and I am open to any and all advice/suggestions. Thanks!

Here is my tank info:

10Gallon, Light is a Nicrew SkyLed Plus at 40% intensity for 7 hours a day (2 hours in the morning and 5 in the evening), Easy green one pump around twice weekly, inert petco gravel with easy root tabs and 9 month of fish/invert waste. Water parameters PH 7.5, KH 2, GH 5, Ammonia/Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 10-20ppm.

[KBOzzie59]

Hang in there.  Sometime after clipping off a runner they take considerable time to get back on track.

[dan94]

21 minutes ago, KBOzzie59 said:

Hang in there.  Sometime after clipping off a runner they take considerable time to get back on track.

I’ll continue down the path of patience then! I guess it’s all part of the low tech experience.

[1moretank]

On 3/16/2021 at 8:16 AM, dan94 said:

Hello! I planted some Dwarf Chainsword in my 10 gallon in December of last year. They started off pretty great and I had a few runners in the first month of them being in my tank. In late January I separated one of the runners and planted it in the other side of my tank to hopefully get my carpet started over there. Ever since however, none of the chainsword has sent out any runners that I can see. The dwarf chainsword that is currently in the tank appears healthy, and the biggest of the plants is still growing new leaves. My lighting/fertilizing rituals have not changed at all since December. My light is on 7 hours a day and I dose easy green one pump twice weekly to keep around 10-20ppm of Nitrate. Has anyone else experienced this, or am I not being patient enough? I am pretty new to carpeting plants and I am open to any and all advice/suggestions. Thanks!

Here is my tank info:

10Gallon, Light is a Nicrew SkyLed Plus at 40% intensity for 7 hours a day (2 hours in the morning and 5 in the evening), Easy green one pump around twice weekly, inert petco gravel with easy root tabs and 9 month of fish/invert waste. Water parameters PH 7.5, KH 2, GH 5, Ammonia/Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 10-20ppm.

If I am reading this right, you had new plantlets at first, so your plant nutrient "needs" are higher now than in December, but you haven't changed how much fertilizer you dose?  So I would think your plants are no longer getting enough nutrients.  Try more fertilizer, maybe one squirt 3 times a week, and see if you get some new growth.  If you get a little, but not as much as you expect after a month of 3 squirts, you can always bump it again.  Good luck.

[dan94]

1 hour ago, 1moretank said:

If I am reading this right, you had new plantlets at first, so your plant nutrient "needs" are higher now than in December, but you haven't changed how much fertilizer you dose?  So I would think your plants are no longer getting enough nutrients.  Try more fertilizer, maybe one squirt 3 times a week, and see if you get some new growth.  If you get a little, but not as much as you expect after a month of 3 squirts, you can always bump it again.  Good luck.

Thank you for your advice! I dose based off of my Nitrate levels which I test a few times per week trying to stay in the 10-20 ppm range. Is that what you would suggest? 

[1moretank]

@dan94 I believe Cory recommends less than 40, when my tap was soft water, I couldn't keep my nitrates that high so I varied between 0-40.  Now I have hard water and my nitrates are at the top of the chart but my plants & fish are doing well.  I have not fertilized in months, so my fish must be doing a good job.  I have dwarf sag with new flowers on it nearly every day and at least 5 tanks with anubias flowering today.   IMO watching your tank and its population is much more important than the test kits, once you get everything somewhat stable.  I like the "take it slow" approach to everything in my tanks.  Maybe aim for 30 ppm instead of 20 for a month and see what happens?  Good luck and enjoy the journey.

[Mengo]

On 3/16/2021 at 9:16 AM, dan94 said:

Hello! I planted some Dwarf Chainsword in my 10 gallon in December of last year. They started off pretty great and I had a few runners in the first month of them being in my tank. In late January I separated one of the runners and planted it in the other side of my tank to hopefully get my carpet started over there. Ever since however, none of the chainsword has sent out any runners that I can see. The dwarf chainsword that is currently in the tank appears healthy, and the biggest of the plants is still growing new leaves. My lighting/fertilizing rituals have not changed at all since December. My light is on 7 hours a day and I dose easy green one pump twice weekly to keep around 10-20ppm of Nitrate. Has anyone else experienced this, or am I not being patient enough? I am pretty new to carpeting plants and I am open to any and all advice/suggestions. Thanks!

Here is my tank info:

10Gallon, Light is a Nicrew SkyLed Plus at 40% intensity for 7 hours a day (2 hours in the morning and 5 in the evening), Easy green one pump around twice weekly, inert petco gravel with easy root tabs and 9 month of fish/invert waste. Water parameters PH 7.5, KH 2, GH 5, Ammonia/Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 10-20ppm.

I had the same experience with mine. My main plant sent a chain of 4 runners before i moved them but after that all the plants started to melt. The runners melted to the point that there was no chance of recovery. The main plant has just been barely hanging on. Just last week I uprooted it and all its root were brown and mushy. It baffles me as I fertilize with seachem comprehensive, put root tabs and run co2. 😕

[dan94]

1 minute ago, Mengo said:

I had the same experience with mine. My main plant sent a chain of 4 runners before i moved them but after that all the plants started to melt. The runners melted to the point that there was no chance of recovery. The main plant has just been barely hanging on. Just last week I uprooted it and all its root were brown and mushy. It baffles me as I fertilize with seachem comprehensive, put root tabs and run co2. 😕

Aww I’m sorry to hear that! Mine haven’t melted just stopped sending runners. Have any of the parameters of your tank changed drastically? Light, bio load, trimmings, etc?

[Mengo]

yeah now that I think of it I did do some trimming but only around 4-5 of the brown ones since they weren't really in good shape from my lfs. But I only trimmed after the plant settled in. Another thing was that the main chain sword had a stalk coming from it. I searched online and it said it could flower if above the waterline. It didn't flower since it wasn't tall enough, instead it grew into a mini chain sword. idk if that means anything.

[Jungle Fan]

From your description of fertilization I didn't see any root tabs mentioned. Dwarf chain swords like the Echinodorus swords are heavy root feeders, they crave that extra iron and potassium. If you aren't currently using root tabs you might want to try adding some.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Jungle Fan